Canadian Multiculturalism in Action

The jury is almost set for a man, his wife and their son who are accused of killing the couple's three teenage daughters and the man's first wife, but don't expect the trial to wrap up any time soon:

The trial is expected to be long and complicated. Every declaration made in court will have to be translated from English to Dari — an Afghan dialect of Persian — and back, so that the elder Shafia and Yehya understand the proceedings.

"It takes longer and there are several added complications just because of the dynamic between the lawyers asking questions, the defence attorneys, the witnesses, the judge," said Yuri Geifman, with the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario.

Geifman said that because of the issues around interpretation, the trial could last twice as long as the scheduled timetable of two or three months.